Wordpress Plugin To Resolve All Your Plugin Issues
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Started a Wordpress blog on a self hosted site? Then this post is just for you. What do you do after you are all set to run your blog. Obviously besides posting, you will want to expand the features set of your blog by installing some cool pluggins.
I already have an earlier post on stuff to do after your blog is ready but this one is slightly different as it mentions the mother of all plugins.
iPhone Launch In India
Arun Sarin led Vodafone is all set to sell Apple iPhones in India. Vodafone recently signed an agreement with iPhone’s maker Apple to sell the company’s one of the most popular product to date in India and 9 other markets.
iPhone has already existed in the grey market in India where one could buy a hacked version and simply insert the SIM to activate it. The only care they have to take was to ensure they don’t update the iTunes software, which in turn would update the iPhone software as well there by “bricking” it. Which means once the software is updated, the software hack to make it work with any SIM would be rendered useless.
Need For Indian Cyber Command
Cyber warfare attacks emanating from China and hitting targets in US have been old news for some time now. Business Week and other reputable American magazines have covered this growing form of threat extensively and have written in detail about the type of attacks, social engineering techniques used, level of sophistication of these attacks etc. that have been coming from computers located in China.
If the latest reports from Times of India (TOI), a leading Indian daily but which consistently lowers its standard to cater to the lowest common denominator, are to be believed, it seems India also is hovering on the Chinese radar screen. Nothing surprising though.
NEW DELHI: China’s cyber warfare army is marching on, and India is suffering silently. Over the past one and a half years, officials said, China has mounted almost daily attacks on Indian computer networks, both government and private, showing its intent and capability. According to senior government officials, these attacks are not isolated incidents of something so generic or basic as “hacking” — they are far more sophisticated and complete — and there is a method behind the madness.
Looking at the definition the article author gave for BOT, it is quite apparent they are not really familiar with the term:
A BOT is a parasite program embedded in a network, which hijacks the network and makes other computers act according to its wishes, which, in turn, are controlled by “external” forces.
Even a cursory research on Wiki would have told them that Bot is generally referred to a hijacked computer. Botnet is a group of bots, i.e. a network of hijacked computers. The computers are compromised via installing worms or trojans on the computer.
GTA game smashes all records
Critically acclaimed video game Grand Theft Auto (GTA) IV is on course to beat the record for highest first week sales of any video game in the UK.
The title sold a record 609,000 copies on its first day of release, generating an estimated £24.4m ($48.5m).
The previous record holder was GTA: San Andreas, which sold 501,000 copies in 24 hours in October 2004.
But despite its success the game has been hit by reports of software problems and crashes on some consoles.
Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is a sandbox style video game series created by Dave Jones and primarily developed by Scottish company Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design) and Rockstar Leeds in England and published by Rockstar Games.
TechBanyan - Pagerank 4
In the recently updated Google Pagerank rankings, TechBanyan saw a jump of 2 points, from 2 to 4. For a blog that was started not too long ago, I think it is quite substantial and a positive sign of things.
What does it mean for TechBanyan? Possibly, the site would show up higher for the comparative search terms than those who have lower PR, leading to higher search hits. Only time will tell so lets wait and watch. (I’ll keep you posted if I notice an upward trend in Google traffic).
Interesting thing, all the experts decried that if you display TLA links on the site, Google is supposed to punish that behavior with lower rankings. On the contrary, even after continuing to display TLA on my site (I have a single link on the right corner of the main page) which pays for hosting, Google found it fit to raise the PR rankings of TechBanyan. Google surly works in mysterious ways.
Some of the peer blogs that I regularly visit, like Binaryday, Bishtblogs, Abhisays, Readerszone etc. saw a minor bump too, either up or down.
Sita and Abhi’s site saw the PR go down to 3 while Sanjay reported his went up to 3.
I am not sure how to explain this jump in TechBanyan’s PR from 2 to 4 (or why the other sites saw a slight ranking demotion). But I’ll take a shot at it, and analyze some things that I did w.r.t. TechBanyan. I am sure some of these tips might help your blog as well and push the rankings up.
1. Content is the king
Like the real estate rules of location, location, location, the kingdom of blogs is also driven by similar rules - Content, Content, Content. Write interesting stuff. Make the language easy to read. Insert some humor. Give a unique perspective. If you are writing about some news, don’t just dish out the news but your perspective on it as well. Those who would like your stuff, will keep coming back for more. Also they will turn to you for that stuff ‘cuz nobody else can give that POV.
2. Trackbacks and link backs
I have repeatedly gotten track backs from DesiPundit, a popular Indian aggregated blogs site. So write good stuff, but push it forward to such sites in the hope they’ll link back to you. Be sincere and don’t spam. When I wrote something, it was genuinely about what I wanted to write. But after the post was written, I tried thinking about whom else it could benefit. Be honest and sincere in your efforts.
If the content is good, you will get track backs which additionally help in telling the Google Pagerank software how important your website is. Besides Desipundit, I have occasionally gotten track backs from few other readers on topics as diverse as an India specific social networking site - BigAdda to Chinese American politics etc.
3. Blog roll links
From some of the peers, Sita and Ajay. Thank you guys. (If I missed out anybody’s name, please let me know and I will rectify).
5. Readers of your site. More the merrier. 
What do yo guys think, why do rankings rise and fall. You have a better answer, let everybody know.
IBM Or Tata - Who Is More American
A business magazine had an interesting article recently that raised some pertinent questions about the nationalism of multi national companies and where do their core interests lie, given today’s globalized world.
Most of us are already familiar with the Accenture controversy regarding this. Even tough Accenture is considered a blue eyed US tech services company in popular perception, the company is actually incorporated in Bermuda. Basically a tax haven country which helped the company save big time in corporate taxes.
IBM is based in Armonk, US, but it employs more people outside US, and a substantial chunk of them in India. India is IBM’s hub for global delivery of software solutions template and it has about 80,000 IBMers on its payroll in this south Asian country.
TCS, based in Mumbai, India is the nation’s largest tech services company. It gets more than half of its total revenue (about 51%) from the North American region. Leaves no doubt about where its energies are focused even though its based more than 6000 miles away from its core market.
Not surprisingly, IBM gets a bigger share of its revenue from markets outside of US and has seen its bottom line improving even though the US is witnessing an economic gloom and doom of sorts. Its stock initially rose 3% and then by 25% since mid-February.
On the other hand, TCS witnessed a slight slide in its fortunes, its stock is down by around 10%. Putting all their big eggs in one market is going to make these companies vulnerable. Note, TCS is also one of tech India’s most geographically diversified company. Others are banking on US for almost 60 to 70% of their revenues.
But the situation is not that bad for Indian tech companies. With the US economy already in doldrums or veering close to it, depending on whom you believe, US is going to outsource-offshore more to cut costs and improve the bottom line. But at the same time, Indian companies should work on raising the bar and getting a better traction in the emerging markets like China, Russia, Mexico, Brazil etc.
IBM is now the numero uno seller of tech services in India, where its revenue grew by 41% in the last quarter.
American tech service have not only mastered the art of outsourcing but also beat their Indian compatriots it seems.
World’s First Billion Dollar Home
Is being built in India and the Forbes magazine had an interesting feature on it. Actually the home is going to be built at the estimated cost of two billion dollars and since it is still under construction, the actual cost might be a bit more than that.
The man with the deep pockets here, Mukesh Ambani is ranked fourth richest in the world by Forbes and has a total net worth of $43 billion dollars. Mukesh Ambani inherited his wealth and companies from his father Dhiru Bhai Ambani, who started his career as a gas pump (called a pertrol bunk in India) attendant but eventually went on to own gas fields.
Looking at the exterior pictures, I can say only one thing. it doesn’t look like a home. More like a hotel. And an extremely tacky one at that. There is absolutely no sense of style or feeling of a home-sweet-home when you look at it. An unemotional piece fitted with possibly the best the money could buy but totally devoid of a heart and soul.
(The pic below is of a house in the village of Greenwich, CT)
I agree it is somebody’s personal money and its their prerogative how they spend it but the outrageous ostentation does leave a bitter taste.
Such outlandish spending is usually done by the nouveau rich, like the upstarts who suddenly come into a lot of money and feel the need to flash it, leaving no doubts that they are indeed the richest around.
India is a study in contrast. The best and the richest co-exist right next to each other with something totally sub-Saharan and poverty ridden in the country. One can see bullock carts occupying road space with the BMWs and Mercedes.
Other millionaires and billionaires around the world and especially in US have a track record at philanthropy. I could be wrong but I haven’t heard of any such thing happening on a grand scale from the Ambani camp.
Warren Buffet, also known as the Oracle Of Omaha, in spite of holding the mantle as richest or second richest man on earth, is known for his middle class leanings, like still living in the home that he brought in the 50’s etc. Also, he has willed a substantial amount of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation which is undertaking huge amount charity work around the world.
Why do people try to give back to the society? Because the society plays a huge role in what they are and what they have achieved. I remember Mr Buffet saying somewhere that its the American society which eventually decides that Mike Tyson gets millions for knocking guys down. Imagine what Mike Tyson’s worth would have been if he would have been born in some African village and knocking down guys there.
US - Embargoed By Sun Java?
Most likely not. But while trying to help a colleague resolve a Java related issue, we un-installed the existing incompatible version of Java and tried installing the latest one from the net. But this is the error we got while doing it -
(click on the image to blow it up)
This when we were trying to download and install in New York. OK, the company is part of a German conglomerate so the routers may be based in Germany but even then we shouldn’t be seeing this message. The possibility is still remote, they could be right here in US, in New York.
I am sure countries like Cuba, Syria, Iran etc. would not have the privilege to directly access all this stuff from American company websites but why in heaven’s name should somebody sitting in US get this kind of a response from the website.
English In India?
(Click on the Pic above to increase it’s size)
A Tech news journal while covering the recent launch of MySpace India and MySpace Korea, found it strange that while Korean MySpace was offered in Korean language, the Indian one was in English.
What was he or she expecting, the “Indian” language? Something Indianese?
The writer has to be totally clueless about the language situation in India if he/she finds it difficult to comprehend how come the site is in English.
India probably has the largest number of English speakers in the world in one country. Perhaps the accent is different and the style is more British oriented, but it is English nevertheless. (Have an American listen to the Brit cockney accent and I’ll be damned if they make out a even single word spoken).
South By Deep South
Another World Camp venue has been announced and it came as a complete surprise to me, albeit a pleasant one. If somebody is asked to venture a guess for a tech event venue/seminar, most of us would automatically wager on either the Bay area or New York. If nudged to go beyond that and think of some southern venue, most of us wouldn’t bet on anything beyond Atlanta, Georgia.
But guess what?! It’s Birmingham, Alabama. Having lived there on and off, ( place is kind of like home to me now), seems like I was totally clueless about the city’s tech leanings.
According to the official SXDS website, the inaugural event would be held on 26-28 September of this year. The events are still being finalized but would consist of -
* Social Media/PR/Marketing
* Web development
* A full-blown WordCamp
In fact this happens to be a first, definitely a good sign to see such unconfrences spreading beyond the regular cities on West coast and East coast.
Heard all this from here. Going by the comments on that site, the event sure seems to be kicking some dust.